POLL: 59% Of Those In Favor Of Repeal Want Congress To Pursue The Public Option

from ThinkProgress

Republicans have characterized the Democrats’ push to pass health care reform and their subsequent dismissal of GOP efforts to repeal the legislation as “arrogant,” pointing to opinion polls which show that Americans overwhelmingly oppose the new health care law and support its repeal. But if Republicans want to govern based on public opinion, they should be careful what they ask for.

A new national survey conducted between April 6th and 10th by researchers from Indiana University’s Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR) finds that while 58% of Americans support repealing the law a majority of those that favor repeal want Congress to pass more liberal legislation that includes a public option:

When asked how important they thought it was for Congress to work on “establishment of a public option that would give individuals a choice between government provided health insurance or private health insurance,” 67 percent of Americans rated this as an important topic to address. This finding is even more striking given the fact that 59 percent of those in favor of repealing the health care reform legislation rated the public option as important to pursue. Another surprise is that 67 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of Independents also agreed that the public option was an important topic to be addressed by Congress.

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